[hr]<\/p>\n
Submitted by:\u00a0<\/b>Craig Ball [hr]<\/p>\n \u201cI stumbled my way through it,\u201d says Craig Ball of his first claim. \u201cI was pretty nervous. I didn\u2019t know what to do. As a young adviser (Craig had set up his financial advice business one year prior), you\u2019re just trying to write as much business as you can. You don\u2019t know anything about dealing with claims until you get your hands on one.\u201d<\/p>\n Not surprisingly, when his first claim came in, a dentist in his late-forties who had suffered an eye injury, Craig had no procedures in place to manage claims. He recalls feeling that the process was out of his control, and he was extremely anxious as he waited for the first cheque to arrive.<\/p>\n \u201cYou start to think: \u2018Have I done everything right?\u2019 \u2018Will there be any non-disclosure issues?\u2019 \u2018Did I tick all the boxes?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The claim was accepted, providing the client with an ongoing monthly income which meant he could retire comfortably. But the anxiety Craig felt over that first claim led him to develop a comprehensive claims management process.<\/p>\n \u201cWe get the clients\u2019 file \u2018claims ready\u2019 at application time,\u201d explains Craig. \u201cWe request things like Medicare records and financials, and anything else that is usually requested by an insurer upon claim (that we can access already). When a claim comes in, we already have all the documents on file, and can submit everything at once.\u201d<\/p>\n When a claim comes in, we already have all the documents on file, and can submit everything at once<\/p>\n He believes that not only does having documentation on file speed up the claims process, it also minimises disclosure issues because the client is immediately aware their Medicare and doctors\u2019 records will be sourced.<\/p>\n The other change Craig made in his approach to claims was to take a hands-on role with the insurer.<\/p>\n \u201cOur process is a complete 180 degrees from where I started, and potentially from where a lot of advisers are now \u2013 we take control of the process.<\/p>\n \u201cInsurers like to think of the claimant as their customer, but the adviser is their customer. We insist on them (the insurers) doing it our way, because ultimately a claim is when the relationship with a client is cemented.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf advisers aren\u2019t getting involved in claims they\u2019re not interested in growing their business.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Craig and his team stipulate that they receive a copy of every piece of correspondence that comes from the insurer to the claimant. They also ask for the cheque to be sent to their office, so it can be hand-delivered to the client. \u201cA cheque or lump sum amount paid into a bank account is a very cold transaction. Wherever possible I believe the adviser should deliver the cheque to the client.\u201d<\/p>\n Not surprisingly, Craig\u2019s advice to advisers (both new and experienced) is to take control of the claims process.<\/p>\n \u201cI attended a conference recently where I presented on claims and I was really surprised to find that only 50% of the advisers present said they were actively involved in claims.<\/p>\n \u201cBy getting actively involved in the claims process you\u2019re adding value to your business.\u201d<\/p>\n Craig gives the example of a client who dies leaving a wife and children. \u201cYou can set up allocated pension accounts for the claim money to be paid into, instead of paying a lump sum into a bank account.\u201d Craig says this works in a number of ways:<\/p>\n \u201cIf advisers aren\u2019t getting involved in claims they\u2019re not interested in growing their business.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In this claims case study, succession and estate planning specialist, Craig Ball talks about how nervous he was when faced with his first claim, just one year after setting up his own business. He highlights the importance of developing a comprehensive claims process and engaging with the insurer during the claim. [hr] At a glance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[239,4256,4255],"tags":[4663,5757,4719,5761,4665,4720,4685,4706],"class_list":{"0":"post-24517","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-claims","7":"category-income-protection","8":"category-retail","9":"tag-accident","10":"tag-claims","11":"tag-eye-condition","12":"tag-income-protection","13":"tag-male","14":"tag-medical-professional","15":"tag-the-carter-group","16":"tag-white-collar"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24517\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nBusiness:\u00a0<\/strong>The Carter Group
\nClient:\u00a0<\/strong>Male, dentist, eye injury
\nClaim type:<\/strong> Income protection<\/p>\nIn detail<\/h3>\n
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